F3 tornado — Dyer County, Tennessee

F3 tornado in Dyer County, Tennessee

Tornado April 16, 1998 · Dyer County, Tennessee

Rating

4.0 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$250K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado started west of Ro Ellen and moved east. One mobile home with two persons inside was destroyed. The two persons in the mobile home were killed. Two other mobile homes were destroyed. A brick home was destroyed with a truck thrown on top of the house. Several other homes were damaged. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Debris from this tornado such as old income tax forms and life insurance policies were found near Dyer, Tennessee in nearby Gibson county. This meant the debris travelled about 15 miles.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5642013. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Dyer County, Tennessee

What the National Weather Service wrote

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address